News / National
Mliswa demands improved conditions of service for MPs
18 Jul 2019 at 08:07hrs | Views
Norton MP Temba Mliswa (independent) has threatened to drag government to court to force it to improve the welfare of MPs by providing them with vehicles and increase their salaries.
Raising a point of privilege in the National Assembly yesterday, Mliswa said lawmakers had been neglected by the Executive and he was now taking the matter to the Constitutional Court to force the state to act.
"The welfare of parliamentarians must be taken seriously madam speaker. When the Executive makes an undertaking, they must fulfil it. Madam Speaker, I am going to approach the Constitutional Court to ensure that this matter is dealt with. The salaries of MPs have not changed and the cost of living has gone up," Mliswa said
Government has delayed availing vehicles to MPs due to budgetary constraints. Finance minister Mthuli Ncube last week promised to procure the vehicles for the MPs this week.
"The SROC (Standing Rules and Orders Committee) makes decisions and they are ignored by the executive. We were given the ZW$50 000 as CDF (Constituency Development Fund), but the money has been eroded. Something has to be done," Mliswa said.
In November last year, MPs arm-twisted Mthuli to allocate money for their welfare after refusing to increase the budget.
The MPs want government to buy Land Cruisers, which they said "is the only car good enough for MPs to do their work because the Mazdas and Toyotas we get are not good enough".
Raising a point of privilege in the National Assembly yesterday, Mliswa said lawmakers had been neglected by the Executive and he was now taking the matter to the Constitutional Court to force the state to act.
"The welfare of parliamentarians must be taken seriously madam speaker. When the Executive makes an undertaking, they must fulfil it. Madam Speaker, I am going to approach the Constitutional Court to ensure that this matter is dealt with. The salaries of MPs have not changed and the cost of living has gone up," Mliswa said
"The SROC (Standing Rules and Orders Committee) makes decisions and they are ignored by the executive. We were given the ZW$50 000 as CDF (Constituency Development Fund), but the money has been eroded. Something has to be done," Mliswa said.
In November last year, MPs arm-twisted Mthuli to allocate money for their welfare after refusing to increase the budget.
The MPs want government to buy Land Cruisers, which they said "is the only car good enough for MPs to do their work because the Mazdas and Toyotas we get are not good enough".
Source - newsday
